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Iowa vs. Indiana (What to expect)

Posted on 21. Oct, 2011 by in Iowa Football

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By Brendan Stiles

HawkeyeDrive.com

To get you all ready for Saturday’s game between Iowa and Indiana, I put together a list of things you ought to know before heading to Kinnick Stadium.

At the end, I’ll provide what I think are three keys to an Iowa victory.

Iowa Hawkeyes (4-2, 1-1) vs. Indiana Hoosiers (1-6, 0-3)

Kinnick Stadium; Iowa City, Iowa

Oct. 22, 2011

11 a.m. Central

TV: BTN (Eric Collins, Chris Martin, Dionne Miller)

Radio: Hawkeye Radio Network (Gary Dolphin, Ed Podolak, Rob Brooks)

Weather: 55 degrees

Brendan’s Three Keys to the Game:

1. Carry over momentum from last week

Given the caliber of opponent and given the 24-point outing during the fourth quarter of last weekend’s game against Northwestern, Iowa needs to be able to come out clicking on Saturday. This has been an issue the last few seasons against Indiana, and a reason why the Hoosiers have managed to make Hawkeye fans sweat a little each of the past two years. If Iowa builds a big enough lead early, it should be able to stay in control over the course of the game.

2. Productive run game

Indiana comes to Kinnick Stadium with the worst rushing defense in the Big Ten, allowing over 225 yards on the ground per game. This should bode well for Iowa in the sense that the Hawkeyes have had four 100-yard rushers against the Hoosiers over the past three years, three of which came from then-true freshmen. Marcus Coker and Jordan Canzeri (should he play and receive an adequate amount of carries) should both be able to have success on the ground on Saturday.

3. Force 3-and-outs

Iowa’s defense had trouble getting off the field last week against Northwestern, as the Wildcats had the ball for nearly two-thirds of the game. One area of strength Indiana has entering Saturday’s contest is it has picked up approximately 20 first downs per game on average. The Hoosiers will be without a key offensive weapon in wide receiver Damarlo Belcher, but that doesn’t make this key any less important. If the Hawkeyes get stops on third down and force Indiana to punt, then the pieces could be in place for a convincing win. But again, the longer the defense is on the field, the more likely it is the Hoosiers make this game feel similar to that of the past two meetings.

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